“Therefore, tell the exiles, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Although I have scattered you in the countries of the world, I will be a sanctuary to you during your time in exile.’”  Ezekiel 11:16

The word “sanctuary” has almost fallen out of use and has less common currency than it once had.  O sure, there are “sanctuary” cities, which use muffles the glory of the term with a conflicting admixture of being above the law and extending mercy.  I am for the latter, and concerned for the former.  If you are old enough, you remember the term used for the space where your church meets for worship, one time referred to as the “sanctuary.”  That use is a tell.

It is generally understood to be a place of shelter, a place of protection. It came to refer to a peaceful, stress-free space to find solace and rest. An overachieving husband may have a “she-shed” erected in their back yard. In it, he might populate the contents with all of the instruments of her favorite crafting guild. She would refer to it as her “sanctuary.” Or we are coming into fall and the hunters and gatherers are out shooting arrows into their targets. They are preparing to descend upon the woods at season’s onset and go for venison. The most ardent of the hunters may describe their deer blind as their sanctuary. That is their go-to place for joy, comfort, and investment in what pleases them.

We all chose our sanctuaries in life.  They are all different.  But, they must be chosen with care. What is your sanctuary?  What is your happy place?  Where do you go to find rest for your soul and spirit?  Where do you return from when you have been revived and are ready to stand and trek forward in our broken world.  What builds zest for living that is archived in your spirit as you spend time in your sanctuary? 

While reading through Ezekiel, this verse grabbed a hold of my heart and won’t let go.  It is asking me; God is asking me about the identity of the sanctuary of my life?  Where do I go for refreshment?  Into what do I lean to find solace, peace, and rest?  If my sanctuary has an address, what is it? 

Now, there are many zip codes to the “sanctuaries” we have carved out and crafted as Adam’s children.  Many find their happy place in their work.  It gives meaning and substance to their life.  Others find solace in their net worth and in building their net worth over time.  Some find their sanctuary in their grandchildren or their families.  But, has not God created the family for enjoyment and connection?  Others find their hobbies their sanctuary…and on the list goes-from the golf course to the garden. 

What is subtle about our created sanctuaries is that they can be a thinly veiled idol that is taking the place of our Creator, who invites us to Himself. When we go hard after our man-made sanctuaries they inevitably disappoint. So, we tear down our barns and build bigger ones so the joy can be sustained…only leading to further and eventual doldrums.

In this frenetic quest for the ultimate sanctuary and in our gestures to build the empires of our sanctuaries until they are large enough to capture the attention of our hearts…but, oh wait…  Somehow we never quite get there.  If we are not careful, we can die embittered as we come to realize that our “sanctuaries” did not deliver on our investments to build them. 

As followers of Jesus Christ, here we are, living away from home.  “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.”   Hebrews 13:14.  We trek forward in this good way following Jesus and seek in our soul for peace, rest, comfort, and encouragement.   Our culture offers a thousand inducements to these ends.  And, Almighty God has an open invitation on the table for every Christ-follower.  “Let me be your sanctuary.”  We are back to Augustine’s prayer describing man “finding his rest in you.”

I don’t know about you, but I need to know more about that rest and that experience at a deeper level.  I find very attractive, the Word from God brought by Ezekiel, “I will be a sanctuary to you during your time in exile.” 

Here we are, exiles away from home.  As Matt Chandler would say, “We are all homesick for Eden, though a place we have never been.”  We are those restless ones.  All the while, God is inviting us to lay down the lesser pursuits of the below world solace and find sanctuary in Him.  When I read that verse, I fear I know too little about that experience all of these years in. 

From whence comes my peace, my settled confidence?  What would bring me to smile at the future?  What quells the storm and the rage of anxiety and worry in my spirit?  Where do I go to listen for that “peace, be still”?  Whose company charms my soul the most?  Whose presence do I leave most enlivened? 

Held out in this invitation is the suggested glory that sharing God’s company and leaning into fellowship with Him holds the prospect of a settled solace that is worth the investment in time and approach.  There is a beautiful line in the lyric to the hymn “Hallelujah, I Have Found Him” that notes, “he satisfies my every longing.”  What a Savior!  What a glory in knowing Him!  By the way, I find my longings are healed and redirected when I inhabit Him as my sanctuary. 

Now, is that our go-to place for sanctuary?  Could it be the missing ingredient to a life free from the cares and affairs of our broken world?  It takes a lifetime to learn how to spend time in that sanctuary, and each moment is worth what the learning curve costs.  That shelter of the Most High, which is draped by the shadow of the Almighty is a good place to be (Psalm 91:1).  In a word, it is a sanctuary.   Consider yourself invited in, by the One True God!